BCP Bereavement Care

There are a total of nine cemeteries operated and maintained by BCP Council across Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole. Find out where they are located. All our cemeteries are managed, operated and maintained in line with the legal requirements of the Local Government Act 1972 and the Local Authority Cemeteries Order 1977.

BCP Bereavement Care's Cemetery Rules and Regulations

The Council’s Cemetery Rules and Regulations include the statutory requirements contained within both pieces of legislation. Anyone entering or using any one of the nine named cemeteries must comply with these Rules and Regulations at all times.

Our cemeteries provide a wonderful combination of architecture, sculpture, landscape, wildlife and great open spaces to wander. They also provide an historic environment that sheds light on past social customs and events as gardens of the dead and as a lasting memorial. The inscription on memorials, the design of monuments, the choice of stones, the architecture of chapels and the landscape design provide a biography of its community. They are also valued as places of mourning, quiet reflection, as green spaces, and for their wildlife interest.

The oldest cemetery - Poole Cemetery

The oldest cemetery is Poole Cemetery, located in Old Farm Road in Poole which was opened in 1854. All cemeteries are of traditional design (inspired by the Victorians) and include consecrated and non-consecrated sections with some dedicated to a particular faith group. Each cemetery contains single, double and triple-depth traditional and lawn graves for full coffin burials and up to six sets of cremated remains; and cremated remains only graves which allow the burial of up to four sets of cremated remains within each grave plot.

Sustainable Burials - North Cemetery

North Cemetery has a Woodland Burial section which allows the sustainable burial in each of its woodland plots.

Dedicated faith sections - Kinson Cemetery

Within Kinson Cemetery are dedicated faith sections for Jewish and Muslim faith groups.

War Graves

Each of our cemeteries includes war memorials and Commonwealth War Graves Commission graves of the men and women of the Commonwealth armed forces who died in the First and Second World Wars.

The CWGC provides support in the conservation and management of these war graves.

Their website has an excellent facility for searching for records.

Registered Cemeteries of historical importance - Poole Cemetery and Wimborne Road Cemetery

Two of our cemeteries are included in the Register of Parks and Gardens. Historic England’s Landscapes of Remembrance and Commemorative Structures set out the designation criteria for cemeteries and are considered of Special Historic Interest:

Poole Cemetery is a High Victorian garden cemetery designed by Christopher Crabbe Creeke in 1854. Several monuments in the cemetery commemorate individuals associated with the expansion of Poole as a commercial port, with their professions reflected in the monument's design.

Wimborne Road Cemetery in Bournemouth is another local example of a High Victorian garden cemetery once again designed by Christopher Crabbe Creeke in 1878. The cemetery has a good collection of funerary monuments which reflect Bournemouth’s role as an emergent, leading, seaside resort in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.